Ahh. Finally, the new season of Homework is about to kick off. Homework is Aisle16’s London scratch night, a kind of loosely themed literary cabaret on the last Wednesday of every month. Each night has a main show, with support slots from the residents, and often a guest slot. Last year, despite drifting across three … Read more
Month: May 2009
‘Tim is off on a search to rescue the Princess. She has been snatched by a horrible and evil monster. This happened because Tim made a mistake. Not just one. He made many mistakes during the time they spent together, all those years ago. Memories of their relationship have become muddled, replaced wholesale, but one … Read more
So, We Can’t All Be Astronauts got reviewed on a blog called Geek Pie – and it sounds like they liked it. They call it a ‘brutally honest, hilarious and engaging memoir’, and describe it as ‘the best possible tool for any budding writer or someone wanting an insight into the creative process’. Um, I’m … Read more
So I finally returned to my home city, Bristol, to do some open mic poetry. I did a bit of music in April at a couple of nights put on by Mark Venus, but this was my first time coming back to do some poetry. It was pleasant in lots of ways. I got to … Read more
So some of you may have caught The Sun’s ‘story’ about Heather Mills getting approached by Capcom to front the publicity campaign for the long anticipated next-gen sequel to classic platformer Bionic Commando. Appearing beneath the headline ‘GREEDY MUCCA’S OUT OF LUCKA’ the article frothed about how she had supposedly been asked ‘because of her … Read more
So yes, here we are again. Another day, another performance poet interview. Goodness. That sounds a bit world-weary. I don’t really feel that bleak. I haven’t been updating with my usual high-fibre regularity for a couple of reasons, primarily because I’ve been busy writing actual proper articles that may wind up appearing in actual semi-esteemed … Read more
I love a lot of old video game music. Sure, there’s a hefty dollop of nostalgia at work, but many video game soundtracks are astounding in how they manage to squeeze sophisticated tunes out of limited sound capabilities. I think working with such heavy restrictions brought the best out of many composers, which is why … Read more
(click the images for bigger versions) So, as some of you may know, a while back one of my dozens of emails sent out to open mic organisers to check that their nights were still running, yielded one reply from somebody called Line, telling me that they had moved to Denmark, but that they’d set … Read more
I’ve just finished reading my friend John Osborne’s first book, Radio Head. It’s the story of how he decided to listen to a different radio station every day, in a last ditch attempt to inject some variety into his boring data entry temp job. He ends up guiding you through an entertaining, uplifting state of … Read more
Last night I was guest poet at the London final of the Hammer and Tongue Slam. Anyone who knows me knows my official position on slams is I’m not fond of ’em. This may be because I rarely do well – I’m a bit of a waffler, and I like having time to jaw with … Read more
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRhPeJ3uzOc] I know this is a day late, but hey. If you’re not au fait with Jonathan Coulton, check out his stuff. He does mostly ‘comic’ songs, but that’s a bit reductive. The fact is, he’s got a beautiful voice, and he’s a fantastic melody writer. And then he puts a bunch of cool, silly … Read more
Leroy was the first to arrive in the pub’s upstairs room. He was lanky, awkward. Johnny, the compere and organiser, was busy putting out chairs. Leroy shuffled from foot to foot, and spoke in a kind of anxious mumble. ‘Uh… I was looking on the internet, and saw this, and here I am… Is this … Read more
http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fv22.nonxt3.googlevideo.com%2Fvideoplayback%3Fid%3Db8514eb9b843aa91%26itag%3D5%26begin%3D0%26len%3D86400000%26app%3Dblogger%26et%3Dplay%26el%3DEMBEDDED%26ip%3D0.0.0.0%26ipbits%3D0%26expire%3D1274159690%26sparams%3Did%252Citag%252Cip%252Cipbits%252Cexpire%26signature%3DB4AA081331FD146814E663301827F207AF9E0CD.804202272986D0C53B0BEB1947A285837C0218FF%26key%3Dck1&thumbnailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2FThumbnailServer2%3Fapp%3Dblogger%26contentid%3Db8514eb9b843aa91%26offsetms%3D5000%26itag%3Dw320%26sigh%3D2Nrm0Byuusomlqa_LXWHI_zYXCg&messagesUrl=video.google.com%2FFlashUiStrings.xlb%3Fframe%3Dflashstrings%26hl%3Den&nogvlm=1 So I went to the fair last night. By day, I’d watched dozens of caravans jaw open, folding out into huge anglepoised monstronsities and structures like giant mechanical crabs barnacled with coloured bulbs. Kids on BMXs rode between dusty parked vans. Petrol generators began putt-putt-putting. Hotdog stalls rolled up the silver slat of their … Read more